Zinaida Alvers
Gisela Adlersberg, from a 1936 immigration form
Born	Gitel Rakhel Magasanik (1904-10-09)October 9, 1904 Berditchev, Russian Empire (now Berdychiv, Ukraine)
Died	October 21, 1997(1997-10-21) (aged 93)
Other names	Zina Alvers, Zinaida Adlersberg, Gisela Magasanik, Gisela Adlersberg
Occupation	Singer
Relatives	Boris Magasanik (brother)

Zinaida Alvers (October 9, 1904^[1] – October 21, 1997), also known asZina Alvers,Gisela Magasanik, Gisela Adlersberg, andZinaida Adlersberg, was a Russian-American contralto^[2] and mezzo-soprano^[3] singer and voice teacher.

Alvers was born inBerditchev, Russia (now inZhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine),^[4] the daughter of Naum Magasanik and Charlotte Schreiber Magasanik.^[5] Her younger brotherBoris Magasanik was a biology professor atMassachusetts Institute of Technology.^[6] She studied voice withWalter Bricht.^[7]

Alvers sang at theVienna Volksoper before she moved to New York City in the 1930s.^[8][9] Her voice was variously described as contralto or mezzo-soprano in its range.^[10] She was in the cast of Strauss'sSalome atLewisohn Stadium in 1937.^[11][12] In 1938 and 1939, she sang at benefit concerts by and for Jewish refugees atMecca Temple, sharing the stage with singers Walter Bricht,Sidor Belarsky,Masha Benya andSarah Gorby, violinistsArnold Eidus andFelix Galimir, writerGeorge Backer, and others.^[13][14] In 1943, she appeared onBroadway in the musical revueChauve-Souris,^[15] and in the casts the Russian operasPrince Igor,Rusalka,Eugene Onegin atCarnegie Hall.^[16][17][18]

Alvers gave concerts at New York'sTown Hall venue in 1941,^[19] 1943,^[20] 1947^[21] and 1948.^[22] In 1945, she was a soloist in a performance ofBeethoven's Ninth Symphony at a music festival in South Carolina.^[23] In 1946, she was a soloist with theNew York Philharmonic atCarnegie Hall,^[24] and at concerts of Russian music in Michigan and Indiana, sponsored by the American Russian Fraternal Society.^[25][26] She gave a concert for theBronxville Women's Club in 1952,^[27] and an afternoon concert at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1958.^[28][29] "Her singing at its best has a communicative power that carries over the footlights," noted a reviewer inThe New York Times.^[28]

In 1929, Alvers married physician and medical researcher David Adlersberg in Vienna; they had a daughter, Margaret.^[30] The Adlersbergs were naturalized as United States citizens in 1943. Her husband died in 1960,^[31] and she died in 1997.^[32]

• Zinaida Alvers atPlaybill Vault
• Zinaida Alvers at theInternet Broadway Database

• 1904 births
• 1997 deaths
• Russian singers
• People from Berdychiv
• Contraltos

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